“One thing that makes this case difficult is you don’t look like our usual criminals,” Harris said. But you created a situation that was just as dangerous as anyone who did that.” The judge meted out Rhoades’ sentence: 25 years in prison.“Often times for the court it is easy to tell when someone is dangerous. His crime: having sex without first disclosing he had HIV.Officially, the charge, buried in Chapter 709 of the Iowa code, is “criminal transmission of HIV.” But no transmission had occurred.The man Rhoades had sex with, 22-year-old Adam Plendl, had not contracted the virus.

Prevention strategies at this level are often designed to promote attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that ultimately prevent violence.

In July 2008, the Cedar Falls Police Department questioned Nick Rhoades, accusing him of having sex without first disclosing that he was HIV-positive even though his partner never contracted the virus. Nick Rhoades was clerking at a Family Video store in Waverly, Iowa, one summer afternoon in 2008 when three armed detectives appeared, escorted him to a local hospital and ordered nurses to draw his blood.

A dozen miles away, his mother and stepfather looked on as local sheriff’s deputies searched their home for drugs — not illegal drugs, but lifesaving prescription medications.

This approach is more likely to sustain prevention efforts over time than any single intervention.

The first level identifies biological and personal history factors that increase the likelihood of becoming a victim or perpetrator of violence.